Leveller

You have to wonder whether Ashton’s control of recruitment strategy was about ego or doing deals that would benefit his personal means, one way or another.

Well …. one will.

But you could argue that he’s never set out to cheat or throw games. He’s basically bet on himself and his team to do well when he’s playing and to do badly when he’s not playing. It’s arrogant and foolish but only devious in the way that he avoided being caught. The worst thing about players betting is the suspicion of match fixing, which doesn’t seem to be the case here.

To be fair, Clifton isn’t far from Failand and is closer to the stadium too. I must admit if I was a wealthy young man I’d opt for Clifton every time.

It always surprises me that our players seem to live in Nailsea rather than Clifton village!

I don't see anything sad in a very old traditional club being rescued from decline, to be honest. If they want to progress and can afford better players to achieve it, they're only doing what any ambitious club would like to do. And if Taylor Moore went there, he wouldn't be playing much below his level - a League One player in a team striving to reach League One.

Presumably referencing SL losing even more money when they were in charge?

Yes, I was only challenging the view that Hargreaves is better off because he kept a bigger stake in HL. In fact that will have reduced his comparable net worth. SL may have wasted money on his hobbies, but he would have lost a chunk of it if he’d left it in HL anyway.

Shares in HL have fallen by two thirds in value over the last four years, so Steve was wise to get out. Hargreaves has been railing against the terrible record of the current management. More fool him for NOT diversifying.

Do they always disappoint then?

Yeovil probably.

Anybody still think Grealish is overrated?

Portishead is going to be busy- they’re filming another TV drama there next week.

They’re filming it in Bristol this week.

Eight months is most of a season. Why does it matter which season? It could put them in danger next season for all we know.

Dontcha just love it when merging threads makes your comment look nonsensical! ?? This was in response to Up Pompey!

This would make it The Prologue! Titter ye not.

That was widely predicted on the Cardiff forum. Not quite sure why Tan and Lamouchi fell out, but probably budgetary issues, with a novice like Bamba being more compliant I guess.

So, without reading the entire thread, can someone summarise which Championship clubs in 2023-4 are going to be seriously constrained by finances? By which I mean, needing to weaken their squad to cut wages/bring in capital to the extent it will harm performance on the field. The ones that come to mind are Cardiff, Birmingham, West Brom and QPR. Does that sound right?

Yes, surely “understands” is more likely to be code for “have been told unofficially but not allowed to quote a source”, than a guess.

It’s hard to forgive Extinction Rebellion for NOT interfering with this.

I sort of admire the French for always singing in French and not bowing to the peer pressure.

God it’s so cheesy. And all the music is abysmal.

I see Jonny Smith has just tweeted a fond farewell to Burton Albion fans. Hints that he may be on his way back to Wrexham?

Good idea. Many fans - me included - wouldn’t make a special journey to see the women’s team, but might watch them as part of a package on the same day.